I haven’t written any new posts lately because I’ve been consumed with two other creative projects. The first is the project of creating a new human. Yes, I’m having a second child! And for the first ten weeks of this pregnancy I was exhausted and constantly nauseated, and I spent my writing time napping instead. Once the nausea and exhaustion passed,… View Post
Now, when I say revision tips, I don’t mean line-editing for spelling and punctuation. I don’t mean rewriting sentences and cutting words. No. I mean looking at the manuscript as a whole and making big, story-level changes. This can be hard to do on your own. I definitely recommend getting a trusted critique partner to read your manuscript and give… View Post
Recently I did something I’ve never done before as a writer: I got a “sensitivity reader” for my latest manuscript. While I’m (anxiously) awaiting her feedback, I’ve been researching agents who might be interested in my book when I’m finally ready to send it out. Mostly I’ve been scouring the Manuscript Wishlist site (it’s a great place to begin your search),… View Post
Guest post by Edward J. Denecke, author and illustrator of What Happens at School When You’re Not There? (For a full bio, see the end of this post.) During an important exam week while I was in college, someone told me about C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, a children’s fantasy-adventure series. I was a serious student and never shirked the… View Post
I’ve been in many a writing group – some helpful, some not so much. One of my best experiences was with a group I started myself. It’s more work, but when you start your own group it can be exactly what you want and need it to be. In my case, I wanted a group of other YA/MG writers who were serious… View Post